The lawmaker representing Adamawa North Senatorial District, Senator Ishaku Abbo, has disclosed that he sat for the National Common Entrance Examination and “won” it when he was in primary three.
The lawmaker stated this on Monday during the ongoing screening of ministerial nominees on the floor of the Senate.
It was reported that the screening started at about 1: 30pm at the plenary on Monday. The first nominee to be screened was Abubakar Momoh (Edo State)
After, Momoh, the immediate past Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, was screened.
But during the screening of the nominee from Benue State, Prof. Joseph Utsev, there was concern about the age of the nominee when he finished primary school.
A seeming age disparity was spotted in Utsev’s certificate. The nominee in his certificate stated that he was born in 1980 and finished secondary school in 1989.
The error was spotted by Lagos lawmaker, Senator Tokunbo Abiru, who stated that something must have been missing.
The Senator pointed out that according to his Curriculum Vitae, he was born in 1980 and started primary school three years after in 1984 and finished secondary school in 1989.
But when he rose up to ask the nominee a question, Abbo clarified that he had a similar personal experience to the Benue ministerial nominee.
The lawmaker explained that he sat and passed the common entrance examination when he was in primary three.
He, however, failed to disclose his age or year when he sat for the exams, claiming that he was exceptionally brilliant.
He said,
“First of all, our nominee from Benue State, you see some people don’t understand some basic things. To clear the air on the issue of you finishing primary school at the age of three. Let me tell you a personal story. I sat for the common entrance examination when I was in primary three and I won because I was exceptionally brilliant. I passed, it is all the same; winning and passing is the same.
“So, the question of you entering primary school at the age of three did not arise but when did you finish and at what level did you sit for your common entrance examination. You may be like me, exceptionally brilliant; but we have to clear the issue because we are on national television and I don’t want people to go home and think that your integrity has been called to question.”
